Should the Transitional Presidential Council Leave?

Between lost illusions and repeated failures, Haiti continues to pay the price of transitions without a future. By Pierre Josué Agénor Cadet For over thirty years, the word 'transition' has become in Haiti the symbol of an unkept promise. With each political crisis, it reappears, bringing hopes that are quickly shattered. Successive transitions, meant to restore order and prepare for democratic renewal, have too often transformed into opportunities for personal enrichment and political repositioning strategies. Economic elites, political actors, and even some diplomatic representatives use these periods to consolidate their interests, while the Haitian people sink deeper into poverty, insecurity, and disillusionment. 2021: The Assassination of a President and the Promise of Recovery On July 7, 2021, Haiti awoke in shock: President Jovenel Moïse had been meticulously assassinated in his private residence. This abominable crime, which shocked the entire nation, was supposed to open a transitional period with two essential missions:

1. Restore political stability and national security
2. Organize free, honest, and credible general elections.

Four years later, the assessment is bitter: neither Ariel Henry nor the Transitional Presidential Council (TPC) has been able to meet these fundamental requirements. The country is more fragmented than ever. Armed gangs control entire areas in the West, Artibonite, and Centre Departments, which alone represent over 60% of the electorate. The Haitian National Police struggles to fulfill its duties, and justice remains paralyzed. A Council Without Direction or Authority Born in confusion and bargaining, the TPC was presented as a consensual alternative to the failure of Ariel Henry's government. However, it quickly sank into the same logic of improvisation, clientelism, and internal struggles. On October 9, 2025, the Council failed in its first attempt to organize a Council of Ministers at the National Palace, symbolizing the impotence of a power lacking popular legitimacy or institutional authority. The peaceful commemoration of July 6 and 7, 2025, had given the illusion of a return to calm. But since then, internal divisions, ego clashes, and the constant fear of armed gangs largely paralyze governmental action. The Failure of the State and the Abandonment of the People On the ground, the assessment is overwhelming: Public services are displaced and in ruins; Hospitals lack everything, schools close their doors in several places in at least three departments, and national roads have become corridors of terror. Meanwhile, prices soar, hunger sets in, and lost territories expand, particularly in Artibonite in recent days. The population, abandoned to its fate, no longer believes in the State or its representatives. The TPC's power is exercised in the shadows, under the tutelage of foreign chanceries and a few groups of opportunists, in contempt of national sovereignty. Lessons from History Always Ignored Haiti has already experienced thirteen transitions since the fall of Jean-Claude Duvalier in 1986. Almost all have failed for a simple reason: none were prepared by and for the people. All were imposed from outside or confiscated by local elites who never made the nation their priority. The risk today is identical. If the TPC's departure is not carefully planned, it will only open a new political vacuum. And Haitian history teaches us that power vacuums are always filled with violence, chaos, corruption scandals, and foreign domination. Yes, the TPC Must Leave… But Not into a Vacuum Popular anger is legitimate. The TPC has demonstrated its incompetence, its lack of vision, and its detachment from the people.
But before precipitating its fall, some fundamental questions must be answered: Who will take over? On what constitutional basis, or one more or less close to the «constitution unofficially and practically on standby»? With what national roadmap to defend the material and spiritual interests of the Nation? And above all, according to what logic: that of the Haitian people or that of the international community?
A hasty departure, without a clear plan, would be another headlong rush. This time, a thoughtful, inclusive transition, based on national dialogue and political sovereignty, must be prepared. Breaking with Permanent Transition Haiti's real problem is not just the TPC, but transition as a permanent mode of government.
For too long, transition has become a system in itself, a space for opportunism where a few dishonestly enrich themselves while the majority grows poorer. To break free from this vicious cycle, governance must be rethought around three essential pillars:

1. Social justice, which restores trust in the people
2. Transparency, which restores the credibility of the State
3. Citizen participation, which prevents political confiscations. for a new Haitian beginning

Yes, the TPC has failed. Yes, it must leave. But its departure must not reproduce yesterday's chaos. Haiti deserves better than a succession of provisional governments. It deserves a strong, progressive, dignified, and sovereign State, capable of guaranteeing security, delivering justice, and offering every citizen a reason to hope. As long as transition remains a ladder to personal enrichment and power, and not a path to collective recovery, the country will remain a prisoner of its past. It is time to break with the logic of the provisional to sustainably (re)build the Republic. Pierre Josué Agénor Cadet